Ai-Petri – Crimean peak

AI-Petri — a symbol of the Crimean coast. Peak, which soars 1231 meters above sea level, its broken teeth resembling a medieval castle, and a mountain plateau. With its observation deck offers a magnificent panorama: the distant sea from one side and mountain ranges on the other.In Greek, the name “AI-Petri” means Saint Peter, and refers to the time when there was a Greek monastery.

F4H7M1 Rope bridge over the precipice on Mount Ai-Petri

The main ridge of Crimean mountains is divided into plateau — separate the arrays with a hilly surface. AI-Petri plateau with an area of over 300 square kilometers and stretches on 25 kilometers from East to West along the southern coast of Crimea. Mountains formed mostly from limestone in the Jurassic period (180-150 million years ago). The jags of AI-Petri form four large (height 12-15 m) and a number of small steep peaks, formed of reef limestone. Over time, due to the winds and water, these mountains began to develop karst processes, began the destruction of the array and the formation of caves. Only on Ah-Petrinsky Yayla (name of the mount side) are discovered 218 1,330 caves and sinkholes and wells.

Deep in the Northern slope of AI-Petri massif is the deepest canyon of the Peninsula — the Grand canyon of Crimea. Its maximum depth is 320 meters. Dozens of caves are natural monuments of local importance, including Rock, Crystal, Pearl, Geophysical, Cascade and others. For visitors opened some of them, like the Yalta and the cave three-eyes, which is also referred to as a Refrigerator. Most interesting is the last. The entrance is located 700 metres from the upper cable car station, and to get to the cave through one of the three large holes — “eyes”, hence the name. It has ice stalactites and stalagmites, an ice rink and a lump of frozen snow with a height of six meters. About three-eyes has long been known. Ancient hunters used to keep its prey, dropping her on the ropes through the main entrance into the underground ice bins. And the Governor-General of Novorossiysk territory, count Mikhail Vorontsov cave used ice for cooling wines, beverages and foods.Yalta cave was discovered only in 1997, it also has stalactites and stalagmites. Another cave, Ayu-Teshik (translated as “Bear hole”), horizontal. The entrance is located on the steep part of the mountain, offering spectacular views of the Grand canyon of Crimea and Belbek canyon gate.

The flora and fauna of AI-Petri

Due to the mountains covered with evergreen forests, the climate of the southern coast of the Peninsula has acquired the features of a Mediterranean, with mild winters and moderately hot dry summers. The mountain slopes are covered with oak, beech-hornbeam, pine and juniper. Many of the plants are endemic, i.e. grow only in these places: arbutus, Crimean bindweed, Dubrovnik Alinsky, butcher’s broom, Jasmine and other shrubs. At the southern foot of mount AI-Petri in Yalta mountain-forest nature reserve has preserved the most valuable forests of the Crimean pine. The reserve is inhabited by 37 species of mammals, 113 species of birds, 11 species of reptiles and 4 species of amphibians. Column ay-Petri massif and the border of the Yalta mountain pasture is the main source of water for the Crimea. It is here that originate the main rivers of the Peninsula. The high-water — Black from here feed artesian water basins in the Steppe Crimea.

Rise to AI-Petri by cable road “Miskhor — AI-Petri” in just 15 minutes. This road is unique in that its upper segment from the station “Pine forest” to “AI-Petri”, one of the longest unsupported spans in Europe.The AI-Petri mountain is considered the windiest point of the Crimea, in 1949, wind speeds over 15 m/s blowing for 125 days and the highest wind speed recorded here is 50 m/s. not surprisingly, most of the legends involving the mountain is bound up with the winds.